love isn't above starting this way (love is for children part 2)
by neverephemeral
Summary: All Darcy wanted was for some form of acknowledgment from her. Nothing huge or public but just something. Anything. Darcy just wanted to be noticed by Natasha.


**Hello my lovelies! :) This one is a bit on the short side.**

* * *

 _My eyes see you_  
 _I see you but you don't see me  
_ _-Atlas by Shannon Saunders_

**"** **Y** ou noticed her, right?"

"Noticed who?"

"Pepper. Before you two became a couple," Darcy said, as she followed Tony around his work lab. "I mean you obviously noticed the things she did for you."

"Obviously," Tony replied. "Jarvis, where's my music?"

"You're talking, sir," Jarvis said.

Darcy sighed, "Tony, focus, please."

"Yes, I noticed all the things Pepper did for me and realized that she cared about me."

"- And you let her know you noticed."

Tony dropped the tablet that was in his hands and turned to look at her.

"In your own self absorbed way," Darcy shrugged and crossed her arms over her chest.

"In my own self absorbed way," Tony repeated, staring intently at her as if he were looking directly into her mind and seeing her own thoughts.

Darcy began to squirm a bit under his stare. She knew that Tony was probably the last person she should be talking to about emotions, especially since Banner was the only one to know about her budding deep feelings for a certain red haired assassin.

"Who's not noticing you?" Tony asked.

"Jarvis, you can play the music. I'm leaving now," Darcy said as she spun on her heels and left the work lab as quickly as her legs would take her.

* * *

 _Okay, okay,_ Darcy paced outside of the gym, trying to get the nerve to enter. _Just go in there and act casual._

"You can do this," Darcy mumbled underneath her breath. "Let her set the pace. Follow her lead."

She took a deep breath, brushed her hair out of her eyes, smoothed out the front of her shirt and walked through the gym doors. What she wasn't prepared for, was Natasha to still be practicing; she was dressed in her typical black tank top and matching sweat pants. Darcy could see the sweat on her body from the door way.

 _Oh crap,_ Darcy thought.

"So, you're finally going to begin training?" Natasha asked, not looking away from the punching bag.

Darcy shook her head, taking a minute to respond, "uhm… yeah, no. Training isn't really for me."

"Really? Training is always helpful," Natasha said, "especially in our line of work."

"Yeah, for you Miss Badass Assassin but not for me, a sidekick," Darcy walked over to her.

Natasha stopped and turned her head, raising a perfect brow at her.

"I have a water," Darcy said as she raised the bottle of water in her hand up.

"For defense?" Natasha asked.

"Against dehydration," Darcy replied, "my defense for attacks from people or aliens is my taser."

"Taser?"

"Hey," Darcy pointed her finger at the red haired woman, "don't knock my taser. It knocked Thor on his ass when I first met him."

"Only for a some time," Natasha answered, "it's not permanent. What's your plan after you knock them out? Kill them?"

Darcy shook her head, "nope, wait until you come save me."

She regretted it the moment it was out of her mouth. She really wish that she could take her words back into her mouth and swallow them.

Natasha took the bottle of water from Darcy's hand, not commenting on what Darcy just said.

 _Good job,_ Darcy thought to herself.

"Thank you for sharing your bag of Doritos earlier," Natasha said.

"You're welcome, I kind of bought them for you anyways," Darcy said.

 _SHUT UP DARCY!_

"You don't like cool ranch?" Natasha asked.

"I do, I mean I love Doritos as a whole but I know that you prefer the cool ranch kind," Darcy said.

 _KILL ME NOW!_

Natasha gave a single nod as she sipped from the bottle of water. Darcy really felt like crawling into a hole and disappearing. She also felt like having a drink but that's another story.

"I'll see you around, Lewis," Natasha said, "thanks for the water."

"Mhm," Darcy nodded, unable to say anything else.

When Natasha had left the gym, Darcy waited a moment before she landed a hard punch to the punching bag.

* * *

All Darcy wanted was for some form of acknowledgment from her. Nothing huge or public but just something. Anything.

Darcy just wanted to be noticed by Natasha.

She wished that Natasha would give her something to go on besides the cold barrier that she was met with. Hadn't she earned more than that? Natasha was the one to initiate the kiss after all but since then, the red head acted as though it had never happened.

Darcy just wanted something to give. Any sign at all would be awesome.

* * *

 _ **Thank you for reading! :) I hope that you enjoyed it!**_

 _ **-K xo**_


End file.
